ELBERTA — Gene Moreno was named Elberta Middle School’s 2010 Teacher of the Year.

Moreno has taught for 20 years, 15 of which are in Baldwin County, and she teaches art to middle and elementary school students at Elberta. She taught fourth- through eighth-grade students in 2010 at the middle school, and she is teaching kindergarten students through third-graders at the elementary school in 2011.

“Art and music share the two schools,” she said. “So, we spend our Christmas break packing and preparing at the new school. If the music teacher is over there, then I am over here and vice versa.”

Moreno said she was “shocked” to get the middle school’s award because she isn’t there all the time.

She is from Arkansas and graduated from Arkansas Tech University with a degree in art education. She moved to Foley about 30 years ago. She has three children, and her husband is a professional artist.

Moreno sat down with The Foley Onlooker to discuss why she loves teaching art, her favorite part of teaching and what she has learned in her 15 years as a teacher in the county.

Q: Would you like to teach any other grades besides elementary and middle school?

A: Elementary is my love. This is where I belong. I really enjoy middle school a lot, too, because they can do so much more project-wise.

Q: Why do you love teaching art?

A: It’s fun because you have to change it up. You change up the medium, the artist and other aspects. All kinds of concepts are brought in, like math for instance. It’s kind of the combination of a lot of subjects and concepts. Sometimes the finished art is different from how it started, which is cool to see the progression. I love the students’ art. I really cherish it. It’s their language, and it makes me sad when they take it down.

My favorite thing to teach is culture. I love teaching the culture side. This year the theme is Africa.

Q: What is your favorite thing about being a teacher?

A: The joy I see in the kids. There’s not anyone that doesn’t want to come to art. It’s all test driven, so there’s less hands-on stuff. So, it’s good they can come to art.

Q: What is your least favorite part about being a teacher?

A: There’s not enough time in a single class. You can’t get enough done in 30 minutes. At least with the seventh- and eighth-graders I get an hour. The money is also an issue, of course. We didn’t get any money from the county or the school, and you can’t do much without money in art.

Q: What have you learned since you started as a teacher?

A: I’ve learned how to be flexible with different schedules and learning styles. There’s so many variables in teaching. You never know how something will work out. You have to be able to change mid-air to make something work. The kids have probably taught me more than I’ve taught them. It’s amazing how many facts they can retain. Their left brain is more developed than their right brain. They’ve taught me how to have more fun and not take myself so seriously, and if I have something planned for a class but don’t get to it, it’s not that big of a deal.

Q: How did you get into teaching?

A: I had some really good and inspiring teachers. In college, I met this wonderful art teacher. Her ability was to make you think in new ways, and that’s a main reason why I became an art teacher.

Q: Do you give the kids homework?

A: I used to, but they didn’t do it. Now, I give them something to work on at home if they want to. It’s optional at this level. For middle school students, I request one sketch a week in their sketch book.

Q: How much do you enjoy the months of June, July and August?

A: They’re surprisingly not as open as they used to be. There’s a lot of workshops, which I enjoy going to. It’s fun to be on the other side of the desk and see it from the kid’s perspective.